While everyone was working on hauled boats, I was out
sailing on HOOT today.

Winds were 15-20 from the SSW clocking around to SW.

I was hoping to fly the chute all the way up the river, but the
veering wind killed that idea.

I want to go out again tomorrow, but can't find experienced
crew. Winds will be 20-30 with a front coming through in the
afternoon.

Bart

I'm jealous.

M.

Ok, now try that in a 10' dinghy like the Xcite.
The morning was dead, but then about noon it
picked up and was blowing up to 22.
(http://www.millersismd.com/home/millers_island_md
..htm) Water temp is about 55°.
We're running a level 1 instructor training class.
We've got two young girls from Barnegat Bay that
are hot sailors. What a blast racing against
them!
--
----
Steve
S/V Pony Express

"Bart Senior" bartsenior
wrote in message
...
: While everyone was working on hauled boats, I
was out
: sailing on HOOT today.
:
: Winds were 15-20 from the SSW clocking around to
SW.
:
: I was hoping to fly the chute all the way up the
river, but the
: veering wind killed that idea.
:
: I want to go out again tomorrow, but can't find
experienced
: crew. Winds will be 20-30 with a front coming
through in the
: afternoon.
:
: Bart

Didn't you just have a birthday, old man?

"Pony Express" wrote ...
two young girls from Barnegat Bay that are hot

Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. But what does
that have to do with anything, especially the
sailing abilities of two of the students?
--
----
Steve
S/V Pony Express

"Scott Vernon" wrote in
message
...
: Didn't you just have a birthday, old man?
:
: "Pony Express" wrote ...
: two young girls from Barnegat Bay that are
hot
:
:
:
:

Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. But what does
that have to do with anything, especially the
sailing abilities of two of the students?
--=20
Scotty must think the meter stops after a certain point....

--=20
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein

So after a season of sailing them, how do you like the Excite?

Do you need wet suits to sail them?

How about a boat review for us?


The Housatonic River where I sailed as a youth in a centerboard
Mercury is the not the best place to sail a 30 keelboat with 4.5'
draft. San Francisco is a far better place since grounding is never a
problem. Currents in the Housatonic River get over 6 knots on the
ebb--I've heard numbers as high as 9 knots after a heavy rain--which I
didn't believe when I first heard it. Now I'm not so skeptical.

I spent most of the summer away on business and did not sail much this
year. In half a dozen sailing adventures, I've managed to run HOOT
aground 6 out of 6 times in the river.

Some boats are easy to clear a grounding-the 23' Ensign for example.
It was interesting to learn that Etchells are very hard to free on a
grounding. Usually I see groundings are training excercises for my
crew. Not in this case.

I'm the only dry sailed keelboat at the Boat Club that tacks in and
out of the river. The other dry sailors consist of a fleet of J-24's
that use their outboards. Not having a engine gives me the excuse to
sail in and out of the river. I thoroughly enjoy dodging the parade
of power boats going either in or out depending on the wind direction.
And so far few of the power boaters have gotten mad at me--I think
this is because the boat is so pretty and I make a effort to stay out
of the way. Still they can make it difficult when they stack up
close together where the channel is very narrow. I'm still not fully
comfortable with the shoal areas. I try to depart on a rising tide
because the potential to sink the boat if grounded on a falling tide
with any kind of chop is very real.

Etchells are very stiff boats and it's nearly impossible to get them
off a grounding with body weight alone to heel them over. Nor does
kedging seem to work. Saturday, I was very surprised to touch bottom
because we were very close to the edge of the channel in an area I
thought was safe. I used the wind--sheeting the main in hard and
backwinding the jib to point downwind, combined with weight to leeward
to free myself.

It is against the class rules to install a depth sounder, but I'd be a
fool not to. That is something for next season.

Bart Senior

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 10:58:01 GMT, "Pony Express"
wrote:

Ok, now try that in a 10' dinghy like the Xcite.
The morning was dead, but then about noon it
picked up and was blowing up to 22.
(http://www.millersismd.com/home/millers_island_md
.htm) Water temp is about 55°.
We're running a level 1 instructor training class.
We've got two young girls from Barnegat Bay that
are hot sailors. What a blast racing against
them!

When it gets cold I might were a spray suit. So
far, I'm still wearing my work clothes (bathing
suit and a tee shirt).
The boat is a good boat for kids programs. Being
ACP, it flexes on impact as opposed to glass. We
had made some modifications but are in the process
of making a few more. We had two mast failures in
25k winds. They both broke right at the partner.
This is a rotating mast and I think it could be a
combination of wear as it rubs on the partner and
the fact that there is hole for a retaining pin
right under the partner.
We had some leaks, but they are working with us to
get them fixed as the show up. Apparently, since
they were rushing the construction process to meet
our dead line, some of the centerboard slots
didn't get sealed well. There have also been a
few other hardware issues that will be resolved.
We put JY15 rudders on them instead of the stock
sunfish rudder. This makes the boats pretty
responsive.
In our Xcite nationals, which we held, we had guys
as big as 250# in these little 10', 95# boats.
They seemed to do ok.
We're putting our high schoolers into them and
even some of your adult LTS students in them with
fairly good results. The single handed boat
concept seems to work for 95% of the students.
--
----
Steve
S/V Pony Express

"Bart Senior" bartsenior
wrote in message
...
: So after a season of sailing them, how do you
like the Excite?
:
: Do you need wet suits to sail them?
:
: How about a boat review for us?
:
:
: The Housatonic River where I sailed as a youth
in a centerboard
: Mercury is the not the best place to sail a 30
keelboat with 4.5'
: draft. San Francisco is a far better place
since grounding is never a
: problem. Currents in the Housatonic River get
over 6 knots on the
: ebb--I've heard numbers as high as 9 knots after
a heavy rain--which I
: didn't believe when I first heard it. Now I'm
not so skeptical.
:
: I spent most of the summer away on business and
did not sail much this
: year. In half a dozen sailing adventures, I've
managed to run HOOT
: aground 6 out of 6 times in the river.
:
: Some boats are easy to clear a grounding-the 23'
Ensign for example.
: It was interesting to learn that Etchells are
very hard to free on a
: grounding. Usually I see groundings are
training excercises for my
: crew. Not in this case.
:
: I'm the only dry sailed keelboat at the Boat
Club that tacks in and
: out of the river. The other dry sailors
consist of a fleet of J-24's
: that use their outboards. Not having a engine
gives me the excuse to
: sail in and out of the river. I thoroughly
enjoy dodging the parade
: of power boats going either in or out depending
on the wind direction.
: And so far few of the power boaters have gotten
mad at me--I think
: this is because the boat is so pretty and I make
a effort to stay out
: of the way. Still they can make it difficult
when they stack up
: close together where the channel is very narrow.
I'm still not fully
: comfortable with the shoal areas. I try to
depart on a rising tide
: because the potential to sink the boat if
grounded on a falling tide
: with any kind of chop is very real.
:
: Etchells are very stiff boats and it's nearly
impossible to get them
: off a grounding with body weight alone to heel
them over. Nor does
: kedging seem to work. Saturday, I was very
surprised to touch bottom
: because we were very close to the edge of the
channel in an area I
: thought was safe. I used the wind--sheeting the
main in hard and
: backwinding the jib to point downwind, combined
with weight to leeward
: to free myself.
:
: It is against the class rules to install a depth
sounder, but I'd be a
: fool not to. That is something for next season.
:
: Bart Senior
:
: On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 10:58:01 GMT, "Pony Express"
: wrote:
:
: Ok, now try that in a 10' dinghy like the
Xcite.
: The morning was dead, but then about noon it
: picked up and was blowing up to 22.
:
(http://www.millersismd.com/home/millers_island_m
d
: .htm) Water temp is about 55°.
: We're running a level 1 instructor training
class.
: We've got two young girls from Barnegat Bay
that
: are hot sailors. What a blast racing against
: them!
:

What does Hunter say about the rudder?

Are they planning on make the same switch to the JY15 rudder?


On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 01:35:11 GMT, "Pony Express"
wrote:


We put JY15 rudders on them instead of the stock
sunfish rudder. This makes the boats pretty
responsive.

No, they are sticking with their stock sunfish
rudder. We did it partially for simplicity and
uniformity. We put the same rudder on the JY14's
as well. Then we just keep a couple spares on hand
and they'll fit any boat.
--
----
Steve
S/V Pony Express

"Bart Senior" bartsenior
wrote in message
...
: What does Hunter say about the rudder?
:
: Are they planning on make the same switch to
the JY15 rudder?
:
:
: On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 01:35:11 GMT, "Pony Express"
: wrote:
:
:
: We put JY15 rudders on them instead of the
stock
: sunfish rudder. This makes the boats pretty
: responsive.
:
: